Why Do Students Cheat and How Can AI Help?

Despite our impressions, there is no one easily identifiable reason why students cheat. Knowing the various psychological reasons why they are doing so will help you determine what motivations for cheating are within your power to fix or address within your class.

1. Laziness – They don’t want to do the work: Laziness can be a significant factor in why students cheat. When they feel unmotivated or uninspired by the subject matter, they might resort to cheating as a way to bypass the hard work.
   Fix – Motivate if possible: It’s crucial to instill a sense of motivation in students. This could involve connecting the subject matter to their personal interests, providing real-world examples to make learning more engaging, or providing positive reinforcement to reward effort and progress.
2. Frustration – They don’t believe the work is worthwhile: Some students cheat because they feel that the assignment or material is not relevant or valuable. This perception can lead to a lack of engagement and, subsequently, academic dishonesty.
   Fix – Explain the purpose in as many ways as possible: Educators should aim to clearly communicate the purpose and relevance of each assignment or lesson. If students understand how the work applies to their lives, future careers, or wider societal issues, they may be more inclined to take it seriously.
3. Inability – They lack the talent or experience to complete: Sometimes, students cheat because they genuinely struggle with the material and don’t believe they can complete the work on their own.
   Fix – Tutoring: Offering additional academic support, such as tutoring sessions, can be helpful. Students may need extra time to grasp certain concepts, and one-on-one or small group instruction can be beneficial.
4. Different Priorities – They have something more important to do right now: At times, students may feel overwhelmed with various responsibilities, from part-time jobs to extracurricular activities to family health issues, which can lead them to prioritize these over their academic work.
   Fix – Patience, Extensions: In such cases, being understanding and flexible can help. Offering extensions when reasonable or helping students manage their time more effectively can reduce the pressure they feel.
5. Interpersonal Pressure – They don’t want to let you or someone else down, and they know they can’t achieve what they want on their own: High expectations from teachers, parents, or themselves can create a significant amount of stress for students, pushing them towards cheating.
   Fix – Lower the stakes as much as you can: It’s essential to create a learning environment where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities rather than failures. Encouraging a growth mindset can help reduce the fear of failure and the resultant pressure to cheat.

Addressing and allowing students to use AI tools for class assignments can help for the following reasons:

1. Relevance – Students will immediately understand why learning to use this tool effectively and ethically is relevant to their lives and careers. It helps to bridge the frustration gap.
2. Skill Upgrade – Students will immediately see a massive improvement in their end-product. AI tools have the ability to improve everyone’s performance at writing and cognitive tasks through personalized tutoring, coaching, and assistance. They can help to bridge the interpersonal pressure and inability gaps.

That’s 3/5 of the causes for cheating that AI tools can help to bridge. Laziness will not be cured by these tools—they may be exacerbated by them, in fact. And alternative priorities can still result in student cheating. But for many students who truly want their time here to be valuable, these tools will be a huge relief and aid to their learning if instructors guide them carefully through their usage.

Work Cited

“Please finish fleshing out this resource document” prompt. ChatGPT-4, 24 May version, OpenAI, 24 June 2023, https://chat.openai.com/share/bc3df277-b0f6-4d85-8b08-af8917031fc3.